Leak offensive will see young people trained to combat country’s costly water losses
JOB SATISFACTION: President Jacob Zuma celebrates with plumbing apprentices at the Launch of the War on Leaks campaign at the Dan Qeqe Stadium. PICTURE: MIKE HOLMES
PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma launched a massive national project in Nelson Mandela Bay yesterday which will see thousands of young people trained and employed to drastically reduce water losses across the country.
About 15 000 artisans will be trained over three years as part of the government’s strategy to slash the whopping R7-billion bill that water loss costs the country annually.
Zuma’s visit to the Bay – the fourth this year – comes as the metro is battling with wasteful expenditure of more than R300-million every year due to water losses.
Yesterday’s “War on Leaks” national launch saw about 15 000 people fill Zwide’s Dan Qeqe Stadium.
As Zuma swooped into the city with Eastern Cape Premier Phumulo Masualle, two ministers and deputy ministers in tow, he praised the strides made by Bay mayor Danny Jordaan in jacking up the municipality.
He assured the crowd of the government’s commitment to see that the metro’s administration was revitalised.
Minister of Cooperative Governance Pravin Gordhan as well as Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane have sent a team of national and provincial support staff to help improve service delivery in the Bay. The Department of Human Settlements has also intervened in the Bay’s housing department, although it is still unclear when the R4.2-billion promised for houses will come through.
“I’m happy to be here in Nelson Mandela Bay during this important period of revitalisation of the municipality and this area. We have gone through a long period of difficulties in this city,” Zuma said.
“There has been notable progress by the various work streams established to improve the provision of services in Nelson Mandela Bay.
“There has been an improvement in the responsiveness of the municipality to complaints through the work of the municipality’s rapid response team.
“I have been informed that a range of initiatives are under way to improve infrastructure and service delivery. Additional subsidies have been obtained from the provincial government to assist the municipality to maintain the major roads in the town.
“The housing development agency under the Department of Human Settlements is assisting the municipality to expedite housing delivery. The city support programme is also assisting the municipality to put in place a more efficient procurement programme for housing budget.
“Various measures are being implemented to improve governance in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.
“These include a review of all outstanding legal and audit issues to ensure they are dealt with appropriately.
“Investigations have been undertaken into allegations of fraud, corruption and misconduct, including forensic investigations.
“This will also ensure that cases of fraud, corruption and misconduct are appropriately dealt with.”
The national Treasury has concluded its investigation into alleged wide-scale corruption in the metro’s shambolic bus system.
Treasury’s report is said to have implicated 18 municipal officials and 11 companies.
Zuma added: “I want to assure you that the government will do everything possible to ensure that this city is revitalised and returned to its former glory.
“With the revitalisation of local government that is taking place, we have full confidence in mayor Jordaan, and we are convinced that he will make a difference in turning Nelson Mandela Bay around”.
He urged the young artisans to take their leak-fixing task very seriously, saying it was a national contribution.
He also said they should find innovative ways to tap into other water resources, such as the water trapped under the sea.
In May, Mokonyane announced that her department would give the municipality R120-million to fast-track the expansion of the Nooitgedacht water scheme.
Completing the project could mean an end to the city’s water woes, guaranteeing water security and boosting chances of economic investments. Zuma said yesterday the project was scheduled to be completed in February 2017.
Jordaan said the national war on water leaks would be a big boost for the metro, which is a water-scarce region. “If we don’t address the problem, we will run out of water in two years’ time.
“I’ve just been to a house where the water bill of a family is R70 000, and we know that family can never pay that bill. We know that it is not as a result of usage, but it’s a result of water leaks. And it is a result of the inability of the metro to respond to leaks.
“We would like to apologise to the people that we have been unable to respond swiftly to these challenges. However, we are recommitting the metro to fighting the challenges of water,” Jordaan said.
The DA criticised the War on Leaks launch, saying the process followed to select the thousands of new trainees should be assessed.
The party’s deputy shadow minister of water and sanitation, Leon Basson, said the DA would upgrade the entire water infrastructure through a water pipeline replacement programme and setting up a 24-hour call centre to send out repair teams to fix burst pipes.
Other plans include installing special pressure-reducing valves at key points in the water network, installing water allocation devices and implementing punitive tariffs for businesses that overuse water.
-Rochelle de Kock
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